Guatemala border wall

WASHINGTON: President Donald Trump has partially shut down the US government and is threatening to declare a national emergency as he pressures Congress for money to build a wall on the US-Mexican border to stem a surge in illegal immigrants.Trump, who is to make a national address on Tuesday night (Jan 8) on the "crisis," says the country is being flooded with drugs and violent gangs. Trump's opponents say he is exaggerating the issue and that a massive wall is inefficient and not worth closing the government for.IS THERE AN IMMIGRATION CRISIS?Illegal immigration from impoverished Central America - mainly Honduras, El Salvador, and Guatemala - has surged even as that from neighbouring Mexico has slowed.Many migrants arrive as families or unaccompanied children, hoping to gain a foothold in the country. When caught, most are processed by the authorities and then released pending a court date. US authorities say they are mostly never seen again as they meld into US society.In … [Read more...] about What is the fight over Trump’s border wall about?

By Hope Yen The Associated Press Sun., Dec. 16, 2018 WASHINGTON—The White House on Sunday pushed the federal government closer to the brink of a partial shutdown later this week, digging in on its demand for $5 billion (U.S.) to build a border wall as congressional Democrats stood firm against it. “We will do whatever is necessary to build the border wall to stop this ongoing crisis of immigration,” said White House senior adviser Stephen Miller. Asked if that meant having a government shutdown, he said: “If it comes to it, absolutely.” Trump said last week he would be “proud” to have a shutdown to get Congress to approve a $5 billion down payment to fulfil his campaign promise to build a wall on the U.S.-Mexico border. But the president doesn’t have the votes from the Republican-controlled Congress to support funding for the wall at that level. Democratic congressional leaders, Sen. Chuck Schumer and Rep. Nancy Pelosi, … [Read more...] about White House digs in on border wall demand, risking shutdown

WASHINGTON: More than 50,000 people were arrested on the US-Mexico border for the third month in a row in May, indicating the Trump administration's "zero-tolerance" crackdown has failed to stem illegal immigration, official data showed Wednesday. Despite President Donald Trump's order in early May to begin arresting all illegal border crossers and separate children from their parents, arrests at the border were up 160% over a year earlier and slightly higher from April. The data showed that families and unaccompanied children continued to flood the border from Guatemala, Honduras and El Salvador, where persistent violence has encouraged many to seek asylum in the United States. The numbers indicate a high level of people successfully sneaking into the country, though it was not clear if they also point to more successful interdictions after an expansion of frontier policing with the addition of National Guard troops beginning in April. "We are seeing family units try to illegally … [Read more...] about US illegal border crossings rise in May despite arrest policy

WASHINGTON - US President Donald Trump on Tuesday vowed to deploy the military to secure America's southern border, as a caravan of Central American migrants headed north through Mexico toward the United States. Trump outraged over Mexico migrant 'caravan' The US leader has spent three days attacking the Mexican government for failing to block the estimated 1,500 people from El Salvador, Guatemala and Honduras from walking north toward the border. "Until we can have a wall and proper security, we're going to be guarding our border with the military," Trump told journalists. In an evening statement, the White House clarified that Trump's plan involved mobilizing the National Guard -- not active duty military troops, which would be barred by US law. Senior officials including Defense Secretary James Mattis, Homeland Security Secretary Kirsten Nielsen, Attorney General Jeff Sessions, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff General Joseph Dunford and Chief of Staff John Kelly briefed Trump … [Read more...] about News
Trump vows to deploy military to Mexican border

WASHINGTON: President Donald Trump declared as "dead" on Monday a program that protects immigrants brought to the United States illegally as children and pressed Congress to "immediately" pass legislation to secure the U.S. border with Mexico.Trump, who has taken a hard line toward immigration, said in September he would terminate the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program introduced by his Democratic predecessor Barack Obama, but gave the Republican-controlled Congress until March 6 to replace it.Congress failed to meet that deadline, but courts have ruled the program can remain in place for now."DACA is dead because the Democrats didn't care or act, and now everyone wants to get onto the DACA bandwagon," the Republican president said in a Twitter post.It was unclear whether Trump, in any new immigration legislation, would support safeguards for people protected by DACA. The White House did not respond to requests for comment on Trump's tweets.Democrats blamed Trump for … [Read more...] about Trump declares DACA ‘dead,’ urges Congress to act on border